On Friday the Los Angeles Clippers announced their 2014 pre-season schedule. In addition to their now-annual meeting with the Denver Nuggets at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on October 18, the team will play seven other games, four of them at STAPLES Center, including home-and-home pre-season games against three rivals.
In what is fast-becoming one of the most intense current rivalries in the NBA, the Clippers open their pre-season against the team they knocked out of the playoffs last May -- the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers host the Warriors on October 7, but will also fly to Oakland to face them at ORACLE Arena two weeks later on the 21st. (Don't be surprised if the regular season schedule includes another Warriors meeting very early in the season on National TV.)
The Clippers also face the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz twice each in the pre-season and the final pre-season opponent is Phoenix.
There's not a whole lot of reason to get overly excited about pre-season NBA basketball, save one: it's still NBA basketball, and it means that the real thing is coming soon. For those of you counting the days, it's 59 days until the Clippers take the court against the Warriors in pre-season -- 80 days until the regular season begins.
The regular season schedule is due to be announced some time next week, so stay tuned.
Here's the Clippers' pres-season schedule:
DATE | OPPONENT | HOME TEAM | SITE | TIME |
10/7/14 | Golden State Warriors | Clippers | STAPLES Center | 7:30pm |
10/12/14 | Portland Trail Blazers | Portland | Moda Center | 6:00pm |
10/13/14 | Utah Jazz | Utah | EnergySolutions Arena | 6:00pm |
10/17/14 | Utah Jazz | Clippers | STAPLES Center | 7:30pm |
10/18/14 | Denver Nuggets | Clippers | Mandalay Bay Events Center | 7:30pm |
10/21/14 | Golden State Warriors | Golden State | Oracle Arena | 7:30pm |
10/22/14 | Phoenix Suns | Clippers | STAPLES Center | 7:30pm |
10/24/14 | Portland Trail Blazers | Clippers | STAPLES Center | 7:30pm |